Question:    What do you think of the video poker machines that let you play three or five or even up to 50 hands at once? Is it a good way to win quickly, or is it just a fast way to burn through your bankroll?

Answer:    For the skilled player in online video poker, a multi-play machine offers two advantages: more action and reduced variance.

As for a single play machine in online video poker, the first thing you should do is to check the payoff table. You are looking for a game that offers over 100% payback and that you know how to play to achieve a positive expectation. Unfortunately, it appears that the only 100%-plus game currently available on multi-play machines is 10/7 Double Bonus Poker, and even that is rare on machines greater than 5-play. Using an optimum strategy, which is necessarily quite complex for online video poker, you can achieve 100.15% payback.

Now suppose you like online video poker, you know the strategy, and you like to play dollars. Not finding any full pay dollar machines, you choose a 5-play quarter machine. Instead of a $5.00 bet on a single play dollar machine; you are betting $1.25 on each of five hands for a total $6.25 bet. You are getting more action and thus, a higher expected win rate in online poker, yet your bankroll fluctuations will be smaller than on the single play dollar machine. If you are playing one of the many sub-100% games, however, then a multi-play machine is just a way to gamble faster and increase your expected loss rate. An exception might be a game such as "Not So Ugly Deuces" (25/16/10/4/4/3/2/1 Deuces Wild), which returns up to 99.7%, plus a good promotion or cash rebate on slot club.